Roadway machine



g- 1962 D. M DONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1960 6 Sheets$heet 1 INVENTOR: RAYMORE D.MACDONALD g- 1962 R. D. M DONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed p l 4, 1960 e Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

35 336 FIG. 4

I I n E4- /38 37 a 7 I 34 mmvrox; RAYMORE D. MACDONALD ATT'Y g- 1962 R.D. M CDONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1960 FIGS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR:RAYMORE D. MACDONALD ATT'Y 1962 R. D. M DONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG? INVENTOR: IRAYMORE D. MACDONALD g- 1962 R. D. M DONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR: YMORE D.MACDONALD 6 R. D. M CDONALD 3,049,817

ROADWAY MACHINE Filed April 4, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG.|I

INVENTOR:

RAYMORE D. MACDONALD ATT'Y United States Patent 3,049,817 ROADWAY MACRaymore D. MacDonald, Eureka, 111., assignor to Ulmac Equipment Company,El Paso, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 4, 1960, Ser. No.19,809 16 Claims. (Cl. 37-108) This invention relates generally toapparatus for preparing and cleaning road beds, shoulders and ditches inthe building and maintenance of roadways and more specifically to atrain of tools for single operation including belt conveyor apparatuswhich can be operated as a push type windrow loader or hitched to motorgraders for operation therewith.

In the process of building roads and widening, grading or repairingroads, it is necessary to prepare a smooth surface either for themovement of vehicles over it or for receiving a hard top thereon.Heretofore, it has been necessary to utilize a large variety ofspecialized equipment to accomplish this preliminary task. Separatepower driven diggers, graders, scrapers and windrow loaders werealternately used until a suitable surface was prepared. Not only doesthis involve a large expense for each of the specialized pieces ofequipment, but it also entails an increase of manpower, maintenance,operating costs, and also the most important factor of all, constructiontime.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide animproved and useful belt loader and digging apparatus for separate anddual use with motor graders to simultaneously and continuously performall of the transitory operations required to build and maintain aroadway.

It is the specific object of this invention to provide an improved beltloader and motor grader apparatus combination capable of ditching,grading and loading all in one continuous operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a single pass ditcher,shoulder grader and loader combination which are disposed in line withinthe width of one traffic lane both in operation and in transport.

The invention is also characterized by a windrow loader gatheringconstruction which is easily adjusted for floating working conditions todifferent depths of operation, yet automatically lifts from the roadwhen the loader is raised out of contact with the road.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved loadingapparatus which may be towed rearwardly of a motor grader tocontinuously load excess material with or without assistance of thegraders scraper blade.

Another object of this invention is to provide a digger loadercontrollable to the depth of a road bed surface to be prepared.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved beltloader apparatus which is completely adjustable to operate with motorgraders of all sizes and also to be towed or pushed in operation byother sources of power when desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved belt loaderwhich has a full floating action with a spring loaded down pressure,adjustable as to depth, and a feeder with staggered self cleaning spadesfor digging and feeding for uniform load conditions with minimum powerrequirements.

3,049,817 Patented Aug. 21, 1962 Another object of this invention is toprovide an intproved method for repairing a road bed surface for surfacing in one continuous operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide an proved constructionfor prow'ding a clean ditch and shoulder in one operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a combination diggerand loader which is simple and rugged in construction and operation, hasno driving elements exposed to or in contact with material beinghandled, and in which the wear parts handling the material are readilyreplaceable with the loader easily transported to and serviced at theconstruction site.

With the foregoing and other objects in mind, the invention resides inthe following specifications and appended claims, certain embodiments ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the apparatus embodying theinvention showing the in-line operation and operative positions of thecomponents employed, further illustration of which is shown in FIGS. 9and 10;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevation view of a portion of theloader apparatus showing the collector blade construction and theposition of the elements during transportation;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the construction shown inFIG. 2 showing the spade arrangement upon the feeder reel;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the gathering wing supportsand adjustments illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view with the hood or cover over the feederreel removed, showing the relationship of the digger blades and themanner of support;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary partially sectioned side elevation view of theconstruction shown in FIG. 5 with the relationship of the raising andlowering jack device illustrated;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the lower end of thereel, cutter and loading mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken upon the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view of the motor grader illustrating theditching elements mounted thereon for feeding the loader;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary View in side elevation of the motor graderillustrating the ditchers;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation showing the loader pushed and spaced fromthe loading truck; and

FIG. 12 shows the swing type hitch employed.

Referring to the drawings, an improved grader, only partially shown, isindicated by the number 1. Adapted to be towed behind the motor grader 1is a belt loader indicated generally by the number 2 substituted in thepreferred form embodying the invention. The belt loader' comprises asubstantially rectangular main frame 3 supported at one end on roadwheels 4 and with a weight supporting hitch 5 at its forward end. Afeeder reel construction indicated generally at 6 is mounted within thefront end of the frame and gathering wings 7 are mounted below andextend laterally beyond the sides of the frame. From a point below thefeeder reel construction a conveyor belt arrangement 8 extends upwardlyand rearwardly over the top of the cab of a loading truck 9 trailing theloader.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and S, the main frame has two parallelhorizontally positioned frame members 311 and 3b which may be formed ofheavy steel plate and are illustrated in the drawings -as hollowrectangular steel channels. The frame members 3a and 3b are held inspaced relationship at the forward end of the belt loader by acylindrical steel cross member 30.

The cross member 30 support the leader at the front thereof and issecured at each end to the frame members 3a and 3b preferably bywelding. The cross member 3c not only supplies the necessary rigidityand support to the forward portion of the belt loader but also providesan arrangement for a swing type tow hitch 5 which perconnection of thebelt loader 2 to the motor grader 1 to one side or the other of thecenter line thereof.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 5 and 6,. the swing type hitch S has abracket 9a welded or clamped to the member 30 in locked position andthis bracket has a hole through it to receive a vertical pin 10 that isfastened to an upright plate 11 secured to a main tow strut 12 pivotallycarried by the motor grader 1 at the center line thereof. A lateralbrace 13 which is mountable on one side of the strut 12, or the other,as at 13a engages in spaced eyes 12a and 12b on the two struts to eitherhold the loader in line behind the motor grader or to one side as shownin FIG. 12 where it catches the windrow of material left by the scraperblade on the motor grader El. The swing type hitch 5, being of asuitable hardened steel, provides two distinct features. First, itpermits the transportation of the, motor grader and the belt loader withboth units in line, thu allowing movement on a twolane highway and also,when required, allow continuous loading with all units in line.Secondly, it enables the units to be placed in an off-set position,permitting the belt loader and the receiving vehicles to operate on theroad bed while the motor grader is operating on or in a ditch area, Itis easily seen the advantage of the offset position; the ditcherexcavating or loosening the material-and the motor grader strike-off ora croper blade rolling it outwardly to a windrow directly in the path ofthe loader which loads it through the loader belt to the receivingvehicle 9.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 5 and 6, a rotary feeder section 6 isrigidly mounted between the frame members 3t; and 3b directly behind thecylindrical cross member 30. The feeder section 6 provides an enclosedhood member 14 suitably attached to the apparatus for ready removal froma position protecting all driving elements from material handled by theloader. Hood member 14 may be of suitable corrosion resistant sheetsteel material.

Centrally mounted within the hood member 14 is a rotary spade reel 15.The reel 15 provides a plurality of spider members 16 extendingoutwardly at equal intervals about the periphery of a rotatable shaft17. Each of the spider members 16, being of a suitable steel material,are provided with a contoured spade support 18 secured thereto as bywelding, to receive bolted thereto spade members or blades 18a thatprovide a positive digging and feeding action with a minimum amount ofpower. The spade supports 18 are angularly attached to the spidermembers 16 and are proportionally shaped and contoured to provide amaximum loading with a minimum amount of carry-over on the return of thespade members. The angular relationship to the spider members and thebevelled contour of the spade members as shown, allows a completedistribution of the torque load throughout 360 of rotation as the spademembers dig successively into the material to be fed to the conveyorbelt.

It will be observed in connectionwith FIG. 7 that as each spade blade18a moves from the position at A to the position at B. with the bladecanted fonwardly at approximately 145 to the radius, the blade slicesdownwardly and rearwardly into the windrow at B and lifts it with adriving action onto the lower end of the belt 23 and passes into ahorizontal position as it moves upwardly towards its position C,thereafter moving outwardly from under the material which might cling toit and going into a substantially vertical position at C where theclinging material falls free into the path of the next blade to followas the material is being kicked onto the belt. Due to the angle ofattack on the blade it tends to slice or wipe through the material sothat material successively engaged by the blades tends to force thematerial that may cling thereto 'backwardly off of the blade to keep theblade quite clean against any impacting of the material.

The rotary shaft 17 is supported at the free, ends of side arms 17awhich are pivotally mounted at their other ends on a shaft 21. The hood14 is marginally mounted within the side arms 17a and the bearings forthe shaft are outside of the hood Where they are shielded from material.One end of the shaft 17 extends through and beyond the bearing toreceive a driven sprocket 19. The sprocket 19 is fixedly attached to therotary shaft 17 by any suitable means such as a. key member. The placingof the bearings, sprocket 19 and the driving elements, to be describedlater, outside of the hood member 14 allows the Working drive units tobe free of all abrasive materials that are being removed from the roadbed. This allows a virtually maintenance free mechanism and assurescontinuous operation of the apparatus.

The sprocket 19 is actuated by a roller chain 20 which is in turnrotated by a drive sprocket 19' carried by the shaft 21. The sprocket19', is keyed .to a shaft 21 which is rotated through the right anglegear box 22 and the gear box 22 is powered in turn through aconventional drive shaft which is coupled with a safety release clutch(not shown in the drawings) from a drive motor and gear box which willbe explained later.

The arms 17a are spring loaded to rest against bumpers by shackles 17dinterconnecting the free ends of the arms 17a and the free ends of leafsprings 17:: that are clamped at their other ends to the side frames 3aand 3b. Thus, when the spades engage an immovable obstruction, theyclimb over it and in doing so raise the reel without disturbing thedrive, the hitch or the level of the side frames 3a and 3b, yet if thereis any opportunity to dig under the obstruction such will follow withthe attack angle of the blades provided as described.

A conveyor section 8 is adjus-tably mounted in contiguous relationshipwith the feeder section 6. A conveyor belt 23 is driven through asuitable manually operated clutch control. This clutch control unit, notshown in the drawings, may include any one of a number of clutch unitswell known in the prior art and does not constitute a part of thisinvention. The clutch control unit connects a drive motor with a gearbox to be explained later.

As best seen in FIG. 11, the drive shafts for both the feeder section 6and the conveyor section 8 are driven simultaneously from a conventionaldual outlet drive gear box 49 which is actuated by the drive motor 48through the clutch control unit mentioned above.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the conveyor section 8, has a pick-up blade 26secured to its lower end adjacent to the ground. The pick-up blade 26 ismade from a suitable abrasive resistant, high tensile steel, and has areplaceable bevelled tip member 27 at the edge adjacent to the surfacebeing prepared and an upwardly bent wing 28 at the other end overlappingthe end of the conveyor belt 23 to direct the rearwardly driven material-to be deposited upon the conveyor belt. The bevelled tip 27 not onlypermits the loose material to be pushed up to the conveyor belt 23, butalso serves as a strike-off blade to assure. a smooth finished surfaceas the belt loader apparatus moves forward.

The conveyor section 8 is pivotally connected to an upright frame member24, which is rigidly secured to the frame member 3 to raise and lowerthe rear end of the conveyor section. It is to be understood that bothsides of the conveyor have duplicate structure members and only one sideis being explained at this time. A quadrant member 25 is pivoted to theconveyor section 8 (FIG. 1) at 25a and also to the upright 24 at 25b.The quadrant has a plurality of position openings 25c cooperatingselectively with hole 25d in the upright to permit positioning of theconveyor section 8 into a plurality of difierently elevated positions.This permits different capacity receiving vehicles to be used beneaththe belt loader apparatus.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the conveyor pick-up blade 26 is alsoadjustably positioned relative to the ground surface by means of a screwjack 29.

The screw jack 29, operated by a handle 30, is pivotally mounted at oneend between two equally spaced quadrant plates 31 and 32. The quadrantplates 31 and 32, having a plurality of positioning holes 31a, arepivotally mounted at their apex 32a to the frame member 3a. The otherend of the screw jack 29 is pivotally mounted to the actuating arm 33which is in turn pivotally mounted to the frame member 3a at 33a. Thelower end of the actuating arm 33 connects to a hanger roller 34 whichrides in supporting relationship on the lower edge of the main channelbeam 33b of the conveyor section 8. It is obvious that upon expandingthe screw jack 29, and with the quadrant plates 31 and 32 locked inposition on the frame member 3a, the actuating arm 33 will pivot on theframe member 3a as shown in FIG. 2 and the lower end of the actuatingarm 33 will force the roller 34 downwardly along the conveyor structurein a shortening arc. This causes the channel beam 33b to move upwardlyand therewith the pick-up blade 26 is lifted with respect to the frame 3about the pivot 25a. Conversely, collapsing the screw jack 29 will lowerthe pick-up blade 26 relative to the ground.

Gathering wings 35 extend in an outwardly diverging direction from thepick-up blade 26. Again it is to be understood that both sides of thebelt loader apparatus have similar structural features and one side willbe described. The wings are adjustably secured to the apparatus by meansof a combination of floating linkages and provides a full contact withthe ground.

The gathering wings 35 are supported for full floating action at thefront ends of the main channel beams 33b where a fixed shaft 36 issecured to and extends laterally from the main channel beams on bothsides of the loader and braced by an adjustable strut 36a. Referringparticularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, a concentric sleeve 37 is rotatablymounted on the shaft 36. Secured at the forward side of the sleeve 37,as by welding, is a linkage 38 which supports at its forward end anothersleeve member 39. The support is accomplished by a height adjustmentbolt 40 threaded through the linkage 38 to rest in a downward directionupon a bracket or stop 41 welded to the main channel beam 33!). Thesleeve member 39 receives a shaft 39a therethrough which is welded or 41on the main channel beam 33b is raised as when the .roller 34 is movedforwardly the shaft 39a and the wing blade attached thereto are raisedfrom the ground.

'Likewise, once the position of the main channel beam 33b is set foroperation, the bolt 40 can be adjusted to permit the Wing blade to reston the ground. Thus, the rear end of the wing blade 35 is disposed inworking position.

The front end of the wing blade 35 is also adjustably supported. Alinkage arm 42 pivoted on the shaft 3% is also supported thereby inconnection with the sleeve 39 as at point 43. The forward end of the arm42 is secured to the outermost portion of the wing blade 35 as atbracket 420 just behind the ground skid shoe 46 which is also adjustablevertically. The other end of the arm 42 extends rearwardly terminatingbeneath a threaded adjustment stop 44, carried on an arm 45 welded tothe sleeve 37. As is seen from FIGS. 2., 3, 4 and 8, movement of thethreaded adjustment 44 will raise or lower the forward or outermostportion of the gathering wing 35. This combination of adjustments andlinkages provide a complete floating action for the gathering wingmembers, a positive depth control, and a lift means for them when themain channel beams are raised at the front end.

Secured to the leading end of the gathering wing blade 35 is the depthcontrol or skid shoe 46 already mentioned. This shoe provides a levelguide means when operating along an existing road surface. Adjacent tothe shoe 46, the gathering wing blade 35 has a reinforcing rib member 47secured on the rearward section thereof. The rib member 47 terminatestowards the lower blade edge and has the linkage arm 42 secured thereto.

If desired, dolly wheels may be pivotally mounted to each of the framemembers 3a and 3b to provide suitable support for the belt loader at theforward end when it is disconnected from the motor grader. Such could beraised and lowered hydraulically or otherwise as desired. However, ithas been found that a lift jack member 50, as best seen in FIG. 7,pivotally mounted to the frame member 3a and 311 has been satisfactoryfor this purpose because, it can also be utilized for elevating theforward portion of the belt loader a substantial distance to allow easyaccess to its parts for maintenance and repair.

Referring now more specifically to FIG. 11 illustrating a furtherembodiment of the machine of this invention, the frame members 3a and31) extend to the rear portion of the belt loader and provide a mountingfor a rear axle upon which road wheels 4 are rotatably mounted, withsimilar wheels 51 mounted on the forward portion of the frame members.The axle wheel members may be constructed in any suitable manner and arenot a part of the invention.

The drive motor 48 and gear box 49 are rigidly secured between the framemembers 3a and 3b just ahead of rear set of road wheels. The drive motor48 and gear box 49 are compact in size and supported low to provideclearance for the upper portion of the conveyor section 8. The drivemotor 48, which may be any suitable variable speed motor such as agasoline engine, drives the gear box 49 and through it to separateoutput drives whose relative speeds are determined to move the belt andreel at predetermined proportioned rates of speed. One drive shaft 52extends to the feeder reel 6 and the other drive output going to theconveyor section 8. The torque tubes of these drives telescope to allowfor the conveyor adjustments described.

A rigid bumper member 54, mounted across the rear of the belt loaderapparatus, is secured to the frame members 3a and 3b to provide asuitable mating contact for a forward bumper of the receiving vehiclesin event it is desirable to push the conveyor instead of pulling it, itbeing appreciated that the loader for this operation preferably has thefour wheels. Otherwise, the loader can be provided with only two wheels51 if it is to be towed each time it is used.

Suitably secured to the frame member 311 just ahead of the left rearwheel 4 is an operators platform 55, as best seen in FIG. 1, positionedto provide placement of the operator and control in an advantageousposition where the speed of the conveyor belt, the filling of the truck,and the operation of the feeder reel can visually be observed.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10 of the drawings, a disc attachmentindicated generally by the numeral 56 is attached to the motor graderblade draw bar 57 that is carried by the main frame 57a. The ditchingaccomplished by the attachment 56, which will be explained later, is thefirst of the several steps required for completion of the preliminarytask of preparing the road bed surfaces which include providing a cleanditch, a good grade to the ditch, a firm and smooth shoulder and a cleanshoulder and road bed.

The disc attachment 56 is secured to the motor grader blade draw bar 57by a clamp member 58. Pivotally secured to the clamp member 58 is asupport arm 59. The support arm 59, terminating at its free end,supports a disc bracket 60 which in turn supports the disc 61 in angularrelationship to the ground surface to be raised and lowered by thegrader controls.

The disc 61 may be re-positioned at any time by the motor graderoperator by actuation of the operating shaft 62 from his drivingposition. The shaft 62 terminates in a worm drive control unit 63 whichis suitably secured to the motor grader frame structure 5742. Pivotinglinkage members 64 and 65 connect the control unit 63 with the supportarm 59. It is easily seen from FIGS. 9 and that vertical change of thedisc 61 is made by the movement of the operating shaft 62.

By providing a vehicle train including the motor grader ditcherconstruction and grader blade and the belt loader apparatus with thespring loaded feeder reel between gathering wings leading to theconveyor belt, and the receiving vehicles in functional relationship asexplained above, a continuous method of preparing a road bed surface isprovided. It will be appreciated that one of the gathering wings couldbe provided with a ditcher construction as described to accomplish thesame result with suitable adjustments provided for that purpose. Theditching, grading and positioning of excavated material is accomplishedby the ditcher and scraper blade, the gathering, scraping, loading andconveying is accomplished by the gathering wings, reel and conveyorbelt, and the receiving vehicles remove the excess material.

Another embodiment of the invention is to remove the gathering wings 35and utilize the belt loader apparatus 2 as a digger in which case thestrike-off blade 27 and reel 6 are lowered to a position below the levelof the ground to a depth desired and thereafter as the loader ispropelled forwardly, the reel spades progressively dig, loosen the earthand deliver it to the conveyor belt with the strike-off blade smoothingthe cut.

In this connection, the preferred shape and positioning of the reelblades 18a as supported ahead of reel arms is shown in the drawings,they may be of any desired shape and width. However, with the bladesdistributed at 60 angle to each other as shown in FIG. 6, only onesector of the blades is working at a time, but as one sector of bladesfinish the cut and delivery to the conveyor belt, the next sector beginsto work thereby rendering the work load uniform upon the drivemechanism, the reel being rotated fast enough that it digs and pulls thematerial towards the conveyor at a rapid rate and at an advantageousangle attack as already described, thus essentially digging the materialwith a slicing action that essentially lifts the material with a slidingaction unopposed by any material located in a horizontal directiontherefrom.

While the apparatus of this invention is shown and described withparticular reference to earth Working operations for preparing road bedsurfaces, it is apparent that many of the features shown may be used ina variety of combinations and with various other attachments, and thatthe structure of many of the details thereof may be considerablymodified without departing materially from the features of the inventionas claimed.

Furthermore, it will be seen how the stated objects are attained and howthe invention provides staggered selfcleaning spades to provide positivedigging and feeding action with minimum power requirements. Moreover,loss of power and wear of parts, and maintenance costs are greatlyreduced in that the chain drives, sprockets and lubricated moving partsare not exposed to the material being loaded, therefore hold theirlubrication and do not require continual lubrication. It is also seenhow all) 8 blade life is enhanced by the full floating spring loadedaction of the reel, yet if blade damage does occur same can be readilyreplaced. The gather wings also are full floating and automaticallyraised for transportation with an adjustable shoe for depth control withloose mate-rial or as a stop for road surface work. Also, by way ofexplanation of in-line operation within a trailic lane on the road, theloader is less than eight feet wide, is within twelve feet of itsoperating height and less than ten feet at its transport height, and hasan overall length of less than thirty feet. Under exceptional conditionsexperienced sometimes with large loading trucks its maximum loadingheight over a truck cab can be brought to approximately fourteen feet ifdesired.

Furthermore, the ability to throttle the engine enables loading speed tobe adjusted to the speed of the grader and the character of the materialbeing loaded, the swath handled by the reel being approximately threefeet with the belt width also approximately three feet, same beingoperated by way of example but not by way of limitation by a fifty-sixhorse power engine with the belt at 487 feet per minute movement at 1900rpm. engine speed. The peripheral speed of the reel is preferablyapproximately 420 feet per minute while the forward speed of the loaderis from 88 to 250 feet per minute depending upon material and work load.

Thus, it will be appreciated how the combination disclosed not only maybe used for all types of loading including heavy windrows of snow andice, but ditching, grading and clean up loading may be done in oneoperation as well as the loader being utilized for scarifying of topsoil, and other conditions. The swing hitch described permits off-setoperation for ditching and other off road operations.

It will also be observed that the jack on the loader when brought intooperation provides quick coupling and uncoupling with a two machine suchas a motor grader. Also, the screw jack employed provides a positivelock on the depth of cut of the loader strike-01f blade whether it beused for clean-up or stripping.

Also because the motor speed can be throttled, and without slowing upthe forward speed of the loader, the loader operator can trim truckloads by running the belt fast or slow under conditions requiring it tofully load a truck for safe haulage of the material loaded withouthaving peaked excess at any point which would fall off of the truckduring transportation.

Having thus described preferred embodiments of the invention, what isclaimed is:

1. A wheel belt loader apparatus for attachment to a motor grader forconditioning a surface of a road bed comprising in combination, a pairof parallel horizontal side frame members held in spaced relationship bya reinforcing cross member at the forward ends thereof, a pivotal swingtype hitch secured to said cross member centrally between the forwardends of the parallel side frame members, a spade feeder rotatablymounted between the parallel frame members, a pair of gathering wingsextending outwardly and forwardly of said feeder, actuating linkagespivotally connected to the side frame members and the gathering wings,adjustment means connected to said actuating linkages for raising orlowering individually or both the front or the rear portion of thegathering wings with respect to the ground surface, a conveyor pivotallyconnected between the side frame members, said conveyor having one endin contiguous relationship with the feeder and the other end positionedto discharge into a receiving vehicle, a pick-up blade mounted in frontof the conveyor, adjustment means connected to the side frame members tocontrol the position of the pick-up blades relative to the groundsurface, a motive means, a dual outlet gear means connected to themotive means, and plural shaft means connecting said gear means with theconveyor and the feeder to eifectively 9 level, remove and load theexcessive material from the road bed surface.

2. A wheeled belt loader apparatus for attachment to a motor grader forconditioning the surface of a road bed comprising in combination, a pairof side frame members, a feeder reel positioned between the side framemembers, said feeder reel having a plurality of spider memberssymmetrically positioned at equal intervals about the periphery of arotating shaft, spade members secured to the end of the spider membersat an obtuse angle with respect to the radius of the feeder reel, aconveyor mounted between the side frames and having its forward endproximate to said reel, a pair of gathering wings diverging outwardly ina forward direction from said feeder reel, actuating linkages pivotallyinterconnected the side frame members and the gathering wings,adjustment means on the actuating linkages positioning the forward andrearward portions of the gathering Wings separately in a verticaldirection, a prime mover, a plural outlet gear means connected to saidprime mover, and shaft means extending from said plural outletsconnecting the feeder reel and the conveyor to the gear means toeffectively level, remove and load excessive material from the road bedsurface during forward motion of the belt loader.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein spade members have abevelled, proportioned blade for engaging the road surface.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein the rotary spade feederis provided with an enclosed curved housing to prevent carry-over ofmaterial.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein the rotary spade feederis biased in a downward direction by spring means.

6. The combination of a wheeled belt loader and a motor vehicle forconditioning a roadway comprising hitch means between the motor vehicleand the front end of the belt loader for supporting the front end of thebelt loader on the motor vehicle, a feeder reel rotatably and pivotallymounted on the belt loader behind said hitch means and having spadesspaced around the periphery thereof disposed at an obtuse angle to theradius of the reel, upwardly yieldable spring means for holding saidfeeder reel down against positioning stops during operation, a pair ofgathering wings diverging outwardly and forwardly of said feeder reel,actuating linkages pivotally connected to the belt loader carrying thegathering wings, said actuating linkages including adjustment meansconnected to said actuating linkages for raising and lowering the frontand rear ends of the gathering wings separately with respect to theground surface, said belt loader including an upwardly inclined conveyorbelt having one end in contiguous relationship with the feeder reel andthe other end positioned to discharge into a trailing receiving vehicle,a pick-up scraper blade mounted in front of the conveyor belt posteriorto the lowest point on the feeder reel, adjustment means for raising andlowering said sctraper blade and reel together with respect to the hitchmeans, a prime mover, a dual outlet gear means connected to the primemover, and plural shaft means connecting said gear means with theconveyor belt and the feeder reel to operate them at a continuousproportional peripheral speed above the forward operating speed of themotor vehicle.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 6 wherein the rotary spade feederis provided with an enclosed curved housing to prevent spillage.

8. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the rotary spade feederis biased in a downward direction by spring means.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 6 wherein the gathering wings areconcave in contour and angularly disposed to provide a strike-off bladeto force the loose ground surface material in a rolling action towardsthe center of the belt loader.

10. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein the gathering wingsare concave in contour and angularly disposed to provide a strike-offblade to force the loose ground surface material in a rolling actiontowards the center of the belt loader.

11. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein the adjustment meansengages the conveyor for controlling the position of the pick-up bladeis a manually operated screw jack secured to the frame members to causepivotal rotation of the conveyor relative to said frame members.

12. The invention as set forth in claim 6 wherein the adjustment meansfor controlling the position of the pickup blade is a manually operatedself-locking screw jack.

13. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein the adjustment meansincludes a manually operated screw jack and a swing roller engagaing theconveyor for controlling the position of the pick-up blade in a verticaldirection.

14. A belt loader apparatus for attachment to a motor grader forconditioning the surface material of a road bed comprising, a supportingframe structure, said supporting frame structure being adapted to beattached at one end to the motor grader and being supported by wheelmembers at the other end, a rotary spade feeder mounted within the framestructure, said rotary spade feeder being housed in an enclosed curvedhood supported by the frame structure, a drive means for said rotaryspade feeder positioned outside of the enclosed hood, spring biasingmeans engaging the rotary feeder to urge it in a downward direction sothe spade members will positively dig into the surface material, aconveyor mounted within the frame member structure, said conveyor beingpivotally connected with the frame structure, motive means, a dualoutlet gear means connected to said motive means, plural shaftsextending from said gear means to the drive means and to the conveyorrespectively, and support wheels pivotally mounted on the supportingframe structure to effectively support the belt loader apparatus upondisengaging from the motor grader.

15. A belt loader apparatus for attachment to a motor grader forconditioning the surface of a road bed comprising in combination, a pairof supporting frame members, a swinging hitch means for connecting themotor grader with the belt loader, said hitch means being capable ofswinging to permit the motor grader to operate in an off-set positionfrom the belt loader, a spade feeder rotatably mounted within the framemembers, a continuous belt conveyor pivotally connected within the framemembers, said spade feeder digging and feeding the road surface materialinto the conveyor, a pair of concave gathering wings adjustablyconnected to the conveyor, a bevelled pick-up blade secured in front ofthe conveyor, a drive means, a dual outlet gear means, means to connectthe gear box with the drive means, a plurality of shafts extending fromsaid dual outlet gear means, one of the shafts being connected to thespade feeder and the other shaft being connected to the conveyor,support wheels pivotally mounted on the side frame members toeffectively support the belt loader apparatus upon disengagement fromthe motor grader, and lifting means pivotally connected forwardly on theside frame members to raise the forward portion of the belt loaderapparatus to facilitate maintenance and repairs.

16. A belt loader apparatus for attachment to a motor grader forconditioning the surface material of a road bed comprising, a supportingframe structure, said supporting frame structure being adapted to beattached at one end to the motor grader and being supported by wheelmembers at the other end, an auxiliary frame mounted for verticalmovement at one end, a rotary spade feeder mounted on said one end ofthe said auxiliary frame within said frame structure, said rotary spadefeeder being housed in an enclosed curved hood supported on theauxiliary frame structure, a drive means for said rotary spade feederpositioned outside of the enclosed hood,

spring biasing means engaging said auxiliary frame to urge said rotaryfeeder in a downward direction so the spade members will positively diginto the surface material, a conveyor mounted Within the supportingframe structure, said conveyor being pivotally connected With the framestructure, a pick-up blade carried by the conveyor in front of saidconveyor, motive means, a gear means connected to said motive means,plural shafts driven by said gear means and driving said drive means andthe conveyor respectively, and support means mounted on the supportingframe structure to effectively support the said one end of thesupporting frame structure upon disengagement from the motor grader.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS StoopsSept, 10, Platto May 24, Friedman Aug. 11, MacDonald Aug. 14, FocherJuly 5, Kolbe Mar. 18, Brown et a1. Oct. 21,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Ian. 12,

